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The nutrition researchers recruited 236 women who had hit menopause one to ten years earlier, were not on hormone replacement therapy or taking any prescribed medications known to influence bone metabolism.

Two groups of women ate either 100 grams of dried plums or 100 grams of dried apples. Additionally, participants received 500 milligrams of calcium plus 400 IU of vitamin D daily.
Those eating the dried plums benefited from a big improvement in bone mineral density. Tests in the United Kingdom have yielded similar results.

It doesn’t matter which nation you live in, because National Nutrition Month should really be called International Nutrition Month. Take time to review your diet, and that of your kids, for children are our future.

If you don’t have time or the opportunity to consult with a nutritionist, there are many excellent books on nutritional diets, plus lots of detailed information on the Web. Also consider superfoods such as acai berries, strawberries, chia and fish oil. These are also available as nutritional supplements that can be found online.

The Mediterranean Diet: Live Longer and Healthier

The Mediterranean diet is one example of a successful diet that can help you live longer as well as healthier. Little meat, extra virgin olive oil, and dark green vegetables like kale and broccoli are integral to the Mediterranean diet. Lots of nuts and legumes, too.

Peanuts, a legume not a nut, was recently pointed out as a way to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, and peanuts are also a brain food.

The Queen Garnet plum resulted in weight loss in rats in a recent study of this new superfood from Australia. Like super fruits and foods such as blueberries and strawberries, this super plum has extremely high levels of Anthocyanin.

This anti-oxidant, found in many superfoods, lowers oxidative stress in the body’s cells, the reason many nutritionists recommend superfoods such as blueberries.

Research at the University of Southern Queensland resulted in evidence of this berry’s potential for losing weight. However, further research must be conducted before this claim can be positively verified. At least they taste good!

Kids notoriously shun healthy superfoods such as kale and spinach. A recent Ecowatch story has many tips on how to get your kids to eat superfoods.

Make Superfood Smoothies

Adding kale to a smoothie is one trick. You can also grind nuts and seeds into a powder, keep it frozen and sprinkle it on food. Pumpkin seeds and almond seeds are two natural superfoods that can be “powderized” so your kids won’t even know they are eating them.

New Superfood Trend in UK

Matcha tea, with up to five times more anti­oxidants than green tea or any other tea, is fast becoming the most popular superfood tea in the UK. This superfood tea is supposed to support the immune system, reduce cholesterol and have other health benefits.

“Matcha is rich in L-theanine, a rare amino acid that actually promotes a state of relaxation and well-being by acting upon the brain’s functioning,” says Hussam El Batta, senior brand manager for Argo Tea in The National, a UK publication.

“…L-theanine creates alpha waves, which lead to a state of relaxed alertness,” he added. Matcha tea might have five times more of this amino acid than black and green teas.

Matcha tea originated in Japan, where it is marketed in the form of a fine powder that dissolves in water. It has also become popular in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Eventually match tea could reach the United States, where the market for such superfoods is booming.